When Villanova scores 85 points in a home basketball game, there's a promotion with a local restaurant that offers free wings to a ticket-holder.

Hilliard went to the line with six seconds left Wednesday night at the Pavilion against Seton Hall and a signature win for the young Wildcats already secure.

The former Liberty High star and two-time Morning Call player of the year needed two free throws to get the fans the wings and he made the first foul shot.

But he missed the second, prompting some groans from the wing-nuts still left in a crowd of 6,500.

"I will probably never hear the end of that," Hilliard said following Villanova's 84-76 Big East victory. "I apologize to anyone who's mad about that."

No apologies were necessary for Hilliard on this night.

The freshman swingman may not have gotten the wings, but he helped his team get the win by scoring eight points, six coming on two key 3-pointers in the first half when Villanova pulled away to a 10-point lead over a Pirates team that came here with a 15-3 record.

Hilliard also played significant minutes down the stretch, feeding James Bell for a key 3-pointer that made it 67-59 with 4:55 left and later had another assist on a layup by JayVaughn Pinkston that stretched the lead to 74-64 with 1:36 to go.

The media focus after the game was on Pinkston, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Maalik Wayns, who delivered 25 points while also hounding Seton Hall star Jordan Theodore into a 2-for-16 shooting night.

But Hilliard made his impact on this game; the kind of game that led him to the Main Line in the first place.

"This was a great Big East basketball game," Hilliard said. "This is why I came here."

Hilliard has exceeded the expectations of many who thought he'd seldom get off the bench in his first season at Villanova.

However, there are growing pains to overcome and after starting nine games early this season and playing in the first 17 Wildcats contests, Hilliard sat out Saturday's 82-78 loss at Cincinnati.

And, he wasn't hurt.

"We were just trying to play the other freshmen and give them a look," said Villanova coach Jay Wright, who has five freshmen and two sophomores among the 12 players on his roster. "Tonight we went back to Darrun and he gave us what he always does, which is a great floor presence."

The 6-foot-6 Hilliard isn't used to sitting and you could sense that not getting to play against the Bearcats bothered him.

"I guess he saw something that I didn't see at the time," Hilliard said of Wright. "But now I see it. Whatever decision Coach makes is the best decision. My trust is in him. If he saw something, then I have to go with it. It didn't really faze me. I just have to keep pushing forward."

Hilliard may have surprised Seton Hall with his first-half 3-pointers, but that's not his primary role with the Wildcats (9-10, 2-5) as his 6.6 scoring average shows.

He is asked to move the ball, set screens, rebound, defend and not make mistakes.

When junior guard Dominic Cheek was whistled for his fourth foul and Villanova hanging on to a 64-59 lead with 5:44 left to play, Wright confidently turned to Hilliard.

With the exception of a 26-second stretch in the final minute, Hilliard played the rest of the game as Wright showed complete trust in having him on the floor.

"He's such a smart player and a great ballhandler for his size," Wright said. "He's just got to work on defending smaller guards at this level. But his intelligence for a freshman is amazing."

Wright wasn't worried about any lingering negative effect on Hilliard after he sat out at Cincinnati.

Indeed, Hilliard seems at home. No one is more supportive of his teammates than Hilliard, who is always the first off the bench to encourage the guys coming off the floor at timeouts.

While it's hard to get used to seeing him wearing the No. 4 after he made No. 32 famous at Liberty, he clearly is in his element at this level. Those who know him know that no one will work harder to get better.

Despite his vast AAU experiences that took him all over the country, there's still a learning curve to conquer when you go from the Lehigh Valley Conference to the Big East.

"It's definitely different, but some things are still the same," he said. "Coach [Chad] Landis preached good defense at Liberty and Coach Wright preaches the same thing here.

"Anything I can do to contribute, that's my goal. It's back to work tomorrow. I just want to go out there and play hard as I can. That's what it's all about."